THE BRITISH CHARACTERSTUDIED AND REVEALED BY E.M.DELAFIELDCONTENTS INTRODUCTION By E. M. DELAHELD FOREWORD BREEDING THE ARTS THE EMPIRE SPIRIT LOVE OF ANIMALS DOMESTIC SOCIAL SENSE RURAL TRAVEL SPORT INTRODUCTION by E. M. Delafield IT has been well saidby myself, as it chances that every Englishman is an average Englishman: its a national characteristic. What is more, no true Englishman would wish it to be otherwise. He prefers his neighbour to be an average Englishmanhe prefers to be one himself. He likes what he knows. The humour of Fonts drawings will appeal to him enormously, I hope and believebut that appeal will mostly lie in the fact that he recognises every situation por trayed as a thoroughly familiar one. His friends, his relations, and himself have all experienced those tendencies so trenchantly depicted by the artist, and have reacted to them in precisely the same way. He can therefore enjoy himself without having to think. For if there is one peculiarity in the British character that is more marked than another, it is this aversion from thought. At this stage I must digress, briefly, to say that if I have a fault to find with this book, it is that it was not called The English, rather than The British Character. My own remarks will be entirely con fined to the former, and will include neither the Scottish, the Irish, the Welsh, nor the farflung denizens of the British Empire. Quite a number of these are as ready as possible, for instance, to think wrongly, no doubt, on the part of the Irish, whimsicallywhich is worseon the part of the Scots, and unintelligibly on the part of the Welsh. But to return to the English. To think is no part of their character. Instead ofthoughts, the English have traditions. The tradition of the Home, for instance. Even the Frencha volatile and irreverent race, with no marked bias in favour of Albionhave preferred not to translate this word, but to recognise it as unalterably English in origin and spirit by referring to it as le home. Yet how do the English treat le homethat is, theoretically and traditionally, the backbone of their country ? Their first care is to remove their children from it by sending them to boardingschool almost as soon as they can walk, and keeping them there until they are old enough to be sent still farther away. Their next is to avoid the proximity of their relations. Unlike the Latin races, the English seldom keep a widowed motherinlaw, an un married sister and a couple of canaries on the top floor, an asthmatic uncle and his housekeeper on the third, and a centenarian cousin in a little room behind the kitchen, They speak, write and sing of Home Sweet Home, and by this means have built up the tradition that it is a thoroughly English institution. Once tradi tion is firmly established, the thing is done. The danger of having to think is practically eliminated. Another tradition that is rooted not only in our own soil, but in the minds of the rest of the world, is the devotion of the English to animals.

“I know that things of that kind always are known, and the people I’ve been thrown with, sooner or later, always turned out to have heard the story. Or if they hadn’t,” said Miss Marchrose in a voice of calm despair, “someone took the trouble to tell them.” Miss Marchrose is about to discover that she cannot escape her past when she takes up a new position at a secretarial college in the south west of England. Following insinuations dropped by the director’s wife, she becomes the subject of a whispering campaign which threatens her professional career and personal happiness. Tension examines reputation and the persistence of gossip in relation to a woman’s choice of work and domestic arrangements with a light touch of humour. The two main female characters represent the different roles of women in public life: Lady Rossiter uses her social position to influence college matters, while Miss Marchrose is a professional woman who brings qualifications and experience to her role.

The goal of the provincial lady is to maintain 'niceness', whether it be in the home, relationships or personal behaviour. 'The Diary of a Provincial Lady' first published in the 1930s is a witty celebration of the suburban British housewife. in wartime.

E. M. Delafield's largely autobiographical novel takes the form of a journal written by an upper-middle-class lady living in a Devonshire village. Written with humour, this charming novel is full of the peculiarities of daily life. The Provincial Lady of the title attempts to avoid disaster and prevent chaos from descending upon her household. But with a husband reluctant to do anything but doze behind The Times, mischievous children and trying servants, it's a challenge keeping up appearances on an inadequate income, particularly in front of the infuriating and haughty Lady Boxe. As witty and delightful today as when it was first published in 1930, Diary of a Provincial Lady is a brilliantly observed comic novel and an acknowledged classic. This beautiful Macmillan Collector's Library edition features an introduction by author and journalist Christina Hardyment. Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift-editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.

'January 22nd - Robert startles me at breakfast by asking if my cold - which he has hitherto ignored - is better. I reply that it has gone. Then why, he asks, do I look like that? Feel that life is wholly unendurable, and decide madly to get a new hat' It's not easy being a Provincial Lady in Devonshire in the 1920s, juggling a grumpy husband, mischievous children and a host of domestic dilemmas - from rice mould to a petulant cook. But this Provincial Lady will not be defeated; not by wayward flower bulbs, not by unexpected houseguests, not even by the Blitz. She will continue to preside over the W.I., endure rain-drenched family picnics and succeed as a published author, all the while tending to her strawberries. The Diary of a Provincial Lady is a brilliantly observed comic novel, as funny and fresh today as when it was first written. Widely regarded as one of the funniest English authors and an heir to Jane Austen, E.M. Delafield was born in Sussex in 1890. She took the name Delafield to distinguish herself from her mother (De la Pasture), also a novelist, and wrote over 30 books which could be 'as laugh-out-loud funny as PG Wodehouse' before her death in 1943.

Behind this rather prim title lies the hilarious fictional diary of a disaster-prone lady of the 1930s, and her attempts to keep her somewhat ramshackle household from falling into chaos: there's her husband Robert, who, when he's not snoozing behind The Times, does everything with grumbling recluctance; her gleefully troublesome children; and a succession of tricky sevants who invariably seem to gain the upper hand. And if her domestic trials are not enough, she must keep up appearances. Particularly with the maddeningly patronising Lady Boxe, whom our Provincial Lady eternally (and unsuccessfully) tries to compete with.